Ladysmith Black Mambazo Reborn

Those familiar with the music of Black Mambazo will see their rebirth in these young Sowetan blues makers.

500 Days of Protesting Paul Biya's Thirty-Year Dictatorship in Cameroon

Five hundred days ago, we here at FlourishingAfrica began protesting Pual Biya's dictatorship in Cameroon when he forced himself on the people once again in one of his thirty-year dictatorial machinations called an election. In most places around the world, it would be shocking to find a single person who has been subjecting people under his misrule for that long. However, with the help of France and the army, Paul Biya has perfected this anomalous regime in Cameroon as the people constantly groan. As a dictator, the man thrives in maintaining a low profile even as dictatorships in Africa and around the world crumble. It is our goal here to popularize his rapacious regime so that Biya may be known for the dictator that he is and so hasten the end of this misbegotten regime. Join the movement by tweeting this tweet daily!

100-Year Old Popular Tanzanian Singer, Bi Kidude, Dies

RIP Bi Kidude.

South Africa and the Paradox of Dictatorship in Africa

There was time, not too long ago, when South Africa suffered from a virulent dictatorship in which the minority lorded it over the majority. That was during the apartheid experiment in that country. During that time, many South Africans cried for help from other freedom loving people around the world, and even from a few dictators, too. Freedom loving people around the world banded together with the people of South Africa and fought against this dictatorship so that South Africans may become free. That was what happened in the historic election of 1994 that made Nelson Mandela the first democratically elected president of that rainbow nation.
Given that Mandela himself had a few friends who were themselves dictators, he preferred to stick with them because they had helped him and the South African people during their hour of need. Nelson Mandela's example has been followed by subsequent South African presidents, from Thabo Mbeki to Jacob Zuma.
Now, it might be understandable to stick it out with your dictatorial friend if they had helped you during your hour or need - as Mandela did with Gaddafi - even though it would be better to advise your pal to cut it out. However, it is a different matter altogether to stick it out with a dictator who apparently has no benefit to you, supporting them for the sake of supporting a dictator, as South Africa did with the ousted dictator of Central African Republic, Francois Bozize, losing thirteen of their soldiers in the process. South Africa's new constitution is crafted in such a way that would forestall any dictatorial tendencies from any leader. However, it is an open secret that South Africa goes around supporting dictatorships all over Africa. It is a shame that a freedom loving people would turn around an hoist dictatorships on others.

Madonna and Malawi

For those who are not aware of the connection between the two nouns in the title of this post, Madonna is an American pop star and Malawi is a southern African country. Recently, Madonna created a relationship with Malawi that began with her adopting kids from that country and creating a charity that seems to be dedicated to education. However, the relationship between Madonna and Malawi now seems akin to that between a country and another country because Madonna has so dominated high level leadership in Malawi - from ministers to the president herself. The beggarly attitude of Malawi's elite has therefore placed Madonna on a par with the country itself so that there is a current row between the two that has brought the president, Joyce Banda, on the brink of apologizing to Madonna. How a whole African country has been reduced to the level of one American pop singer is a tale that is still unraveling.

The Guantanamo Of Central African Republic

See below the squalor in which the ousted dictator of Central African Republic, Francois Bozize, who is now hiding in Cameroon, maltreated his opponents.

Desmond Tutu Wins Templeton Prize

Racism In India: Black Africans Discriminated Against In India

That there is racism in India should come as no surprise for India is home to the Aryan ideology of racial purity that inspired Hitler and a caste system that describes dark-skinned people as lower caste (dalit). However, India's racism has not stopped with Aryanism or dalitism; it has now been extended to black Africans who have recently migrated to the subcontinent. This story from the BBC makes the point.

Muslim Brotherhood Makes Copts Long For Mubarak

It is a stinging rebuke to the brief reign of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt that Copts are longing for the life they lived under the reign of Mubarak. If Mubarak, who was widely rejected in Egypt as a dictator who did not care much for the people, is now seen as someone who could protect the people better, then the reign of the Muslim Brotherhood under Mohammad Morsi must be pretty despicable. It is reported that life for the Copts of Egypt has become increasingly tortuous since the Muslim brotherhood came to power. They have increasingly demonstrated their willingness to eradicate the Copts from Egypt in an apparent attempt to install Islamic fundamentalism that finds it impossible to live with a neighbor of a different faith. If the Muslim Brotherhood is serious that they want to make Egypt a hospitable place for all Egyptians, they must begin by calling their riotous followers to order. Their current rule seems to be taking Egypt back decades, if not centuries. Pretending to be against dictatorship, their reign is now so dictatorial that the Copts are longing for the time of another dictator. Egypt should not be changing one dictatorship for another. Egypt could do better!

Cameroonian Taxpayers Paying For Two Dictators

The Cameroonian taxpayers are currently paying to house two dictators. One is the fugitive and ousted dictator of Central African Republic, Francois Bozize, and the other is Cameroon's own dictator, Paul Biya. Mr. Bozize is apparently currently being housed in the Hilton hotel in downtown Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, while Paul Biya is sitting on the people in the people's palace in Etudi. Both men are living in upscale luxuries even as many Cameroonians struggle to make ends meet. Taxpayer money ought to be put to better use rather than entertaining dictators.

Jon Stewart To Mohammad Morsi: Man Up!